Latch



May 25, 1954 L. L. ANDERSON 2,679,422

LATCH Filed Sept. 6, 1949 2 Sheets-Sheet l VIIIA II luvem'ow. LLOYD L. ANDERSON ATTORN 5Y5 y 5, 1954 L. ANDERSON 2,679,422

LATCH Filed Sept. 6, 1.949

2 Sheets-Shet 2 luvsm'oz O LLoYp L. Auoezs N ATTORNEYS Patented May 25, 1954 LATCH Lloyd L. Anderson, Grand Rapids, Mich., assignor to Jervis Corporation, Grandville, Mich, a corporaticn of Michigan Application September 6, 1949, Serial No. 114,104

6 Claims. (01. 292 332) l The present invention relates to a latch construction which. in the use for which it has been designed, is applied to the swinging door of a relatively heavy or commercial type refrigerator.

2 cocked position for tripping, but is in the position which it has when the door is closed, the latch however automatically engaging with the keeper and riding thereagainst to operative position to hold the door closed.

The latch which I have invented is spring actu- 5 ated and is mounted on the refrigerator door. Like reference characters refer to like parts The latch is opened by outward pull on the door in the different figures of the drawings. handle which compresses a spring. The latch In the construction illustrated, a housing of is moved to a cooked position and held in such metal is mounted within a recess formed on the position upon opening of the door; upon closing in outside of the door casing l. The housing has the door, the latch is automatically tripped into two spaced apart generally parallel sides I ininterlocking engagement with a stationary keeper tegrally connected, at what may be termed the mounted on the refrigerator housing. The tripouter end of the housing, by an end 2 and also ping action frees the latch so that the latch integrally connected at its outer side adjacent its bolt forming a part thereof engages the keeper if) other end by a top section 3. The major portion and snugly and securely draw the door into a of the top or outer side is open, one end of the closed position with respect to the refrigerator handle extending into said opening. Beyond the compartment. handle of the latch there is further a section of With my invention, novel structure is provided the top in which a lock, such as indicated at 4, for transmitting the force of the latch spring 20 may be installed for locking the latch against used and controlling it by means of a pin against operation to open the door, such lock being dewhich rollers pushed by the spring engage, the sirable in large or commercial refrigerators. pin having a rounded edge and a flat side, the The sides I of the housing at the inner side rollers passing from such rounded edge to the flat thereof are thickened and provided with bosses side when the door is opened and returning from I a and lb which are interiorly bored and the fiat side to the roimdeol edge when the latch is threaded to receive screws 5. For securing the tripped on closing the door. A relatively simple, latch at the outer side and adjacent the free very compact and exceptionally practical latch vertical edge of a door 1, the door structure instructure for the purpose for which it is used is cludes a relatively heavy member 6 made from provided, the action of the spring through such EH fiat metal through which the screws 5 pass and rollers against said flat sided pin carried by the against which the heads of the screws engage latch bolt serving to hold the door in snugly as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. The housing also closed position to preclude the entrance of the has an integrally cast flange or guide member 8 heat from the outside to the interior of the relocated between the sides I, extending inwardly frigerator, but with the manual operation of the from the outer or top section 3 of the housing latch on opening the door rendered relatively and which at its inner end has a guide opening e y ough a Sp i g 0 Con ide ab e n t 9, the purpose of which will be later described. is compressed during such operation. The handle H3 is pivotally connected adjacent An understanding of the invention m y e d one end thereof to the housing by means of a from the foll win d rip i n, ken in nn 4U transverse pin ll extending through and located tion the accompanying drawings, in Which, between sides I of uch housing. An actu- Fig. 1 is a horizontal section through the latch ating member is mounted for turning or rocking showing it in closed position engaging with a movement on t pin H The pivoted end keeper tion of the handle 16 is recessed so that that Figs. 2 and 3 are transverse vertical sections, 45 portion of the handle which fit into t opensubstantially on the planes of line and ing at the outer side or top of the housing in itself reslqectivgly 0f provides a housing for part of the latch mecha- 4 1s a fragmentary section slmllal" to nism in the space in the channel cross section of 1, illustrating the position of the latch when the the han le at its pivotal end portion (Fig. 2). door is opened and in which position it normally w The actuating member is made fr m sheet metal remains until the (3001' is Closed, and having two spaced parallel sides [2 between the 5 is a Section Similar o 4, o outer edges of which integral spaced connecting the po o f the Parts d the aCtiOn Which sections l3 and l3a extend. A torsion spring takes place under a condition in which the latch, it around the pin H has one arm bearing on after the door is opened, does not remain in its 55 the adjacent end of the handle l0 and the other upon the inner part l3a. The adjacent end of the handle is adapted to bear against the ledge I3 of the actuating member to turn it clockwise (Fig. 4) in operating the latch to disengage from the keeper by an outward pull on the free end of the handle. Upon release of the handle spring l4 returns it to inner position, generally parallel to the face of the door on which it is installed.

Between the inner end of the two sides 12 of the actuating member a pin l5 extends on which rollers It are carried. The rollers 16, two in number, are spaced from each other and between them a flat bar I1 is located through which the pin [5 passes. A heavy coiled compression spring l8, positioned about bar IT, has one end thereof bearing against a shoulder It made by widening the bar adjacent the end where it is connected with the pin [5, and has the other end thereof bearing against the guide post 8 in which the guide opening 9 is formed and through which the free end of the bar ll slidably passes.

The latch bolt is also made from a single plate of fiat metal and has two spaced parallel sides 28 of somewhat irregular form as shown which, at their outer side edges and adjacent their inner ends are connected by an integral cross section 2i and at their outer sides and at their outer ends by trip cross section 22 also integral with the sides. A pin 23 which has opposed fiat sides and rounded ends is permanently connected to and extends between the sides of the bolt. Adjacent its inner end the sides of the bolt are provided with an are shaped slot 24 as shown. A pin 25 passes through said slots and is secured at its ends to the sides i of the housing. A torsion spring 25 is disposed about the pin 25 between the sides 20 of the bolt, one arm of the spring bears against the section 2| and, the other arm thereof bears against the guide post 8. Such spring is of less strength than the spring i8 and acts to hold the pin 23 at all times against the roller [6. Arms 20a extend inwardly from the outer end of the sides 20 of the bolt and has disposed therebetween a roller 21 which is mounted on a rod secured at its ends to said arms.

The roller 21 is adapted to engage with a keeper mounted on the refrigerator casing adjacent one side of the door opening when the door is closed. Mounted on the refrigerator compartment 28 is the keeper structure which includes a fixed support 29 and an adjustable keeper head 30, mounted thereon for relative inward and outward adjustment. The keeper head 39 is secured in a position of adjustment so that the roller 21 of the latch bolt will positively bear against the inner side of the keeper head, when the door is in closed position, due to the influence of the Spring I8 transmitted through the rollers 16 to the rounded edge of the latch bolt pin 23. The keeper head as shown in Figs. 1, 4, and 5 is formed with an inclined outer edge against which, should the latch be in uncooked position when the door is open, the roller will engage and through a cam action swing the bolt about pin 25 until the bolt passes by the nose of the keeper (Fig. 5) and the roller 21 thereupon comes into interlocking relation with inner side of said keeper head.

When the door is closed and the latch bolt engaged by the keeper, as in Fig. 1, the bolt is moved by rollers l6 bearing, against the inner rounded edge of the pin 23 and by the heavy force of the spring I8, to the position shown in which the slots 24 are positioned with reference to the fixed, pin 25 so that such pin is at the outer ends of said slots. Because of the shape of the slots 24 at their outer ends, any attempted movement of the bolt with reference to the pin 25 is pre vented. Also, in such position, the handle ll moved by the spring [4 is in close proximity to and adjacent the ledge and the lock 4 may be key-operated to swing the holding member 3| on the lock into a position in the path of movement of the ledge l3 so that the handle cannot be operated to release the door. By turning the lock to a different position, such ledge I3 is released and when pressed upon by the adjacent end of the handle II], on swinging the free end of the handle outwardly, the actuating member is turned about the pivot I l in a clockwise direction thereupon compressing the spring [8. The rollers 16 follow the round end of the pin 23 until they pass by such end and said pin 23 and the bolt connected with it so as to enable them to swing about the axis of the pin 25 under the influence of the torsion spring 26. This moves the roller 21 away from the keeper head 30 and the bolt is disengaged therefrom (Fig. 4). The pressure of rollers it against the flat sides of the pin 23, due to the spring I8, is transmitted in a direction slightly inside of the axis of the pivot l5 and thereby serves to hold the latch bolt in its cocked position. It remains in such position unless, through accident or inadvertence, the latch may be tripped.

The door being free for opening movement may now be opened by continuation of the outward pull on the handle with the latch bolt held in cocked position ready to be tripped when the door is closed. On closing the door the tripping ledge 22 between the sides of the outer end of the latch bolt is moved to strike against the outer end of the keeper head 30 with a consequent counterclockwise movement of the bolt about pin 25. With a movement of the latch bolt from the position in Fig. 4 to that shown in Fig. l, the roller 21 comes into contact with the inner side of the keeper head and presses strongly thereagainst.

If the latch is tripped, while the door is open and the parts are substantially in the position as seen in Fig. 1, upon subsequent closing of the door the roller 2'! bears against the inclined outer edge of the keeper head 30. Under such conditions the bolt forces the bar H to the right further compressing the spring 18 and at the same time the bolt is turned in a clockwise direction substantially about pin 25 and the slots 24 traverse the pin 25 until the slots move to a positionsuch that the pin 25 is at the inner ends of the slots opposite to the position of such pin in said slots as seen in Figs. 1 and 4. This permits the bolt 2! to follow the inclined outer edge or side of the keeper head until the nose of the keeper head is reached and is passed by said roller 21, whereupon the roller 21 moves into the position shown in Fig. 1 with an automatic latching on the door in closed position.

The structure described is exceptionally compact and sturdy and of ample strength for the severe service to which it is put on the heavy doors of large or commercial type refrigerators. The inward movement of the handle In caused by spring l4 when the handle is released after an outward pull thereon is stopped when the handle at its inner side comes against the pin 25. The action of the rollers It on the rounded end and flattened side of the pin 23 is a cam action which facilitates release of the latch, there being ample leverage for compressing the spring i8 when said latch is released without the exertion of undue force upon the handle and with the spring 26 automatically moving the latch bolt so as to maintain contact between pin 23 and such rollers l6. The multiplication of the strength of the spring [8 by the rollers following the rounded end of the pin 23 when the door reaches its closed position insures that the usual sealing gasket between the door and the casing of the refrigerator is held under very heavy pressure with a subsequent substantially perfect seal against heat transmission from the outside to the inside of the refrigerator.

The invention is defined in the appended claims and is to be considered comprehensive of all forms of structure coming within their scope.

I claim:

1. A latch structure comprising, a housing having spaced sides, a closed outer end, and a top having an opening therein, said housing being open at its inner side, a pin mounted on and extending between the sides of the housing adjacent the end thereof opposite the closed end of the housing, a latch bolt having spaced apart parallel sides connected at their outer edges adjacent both ends by integral cross members, said sides of the latch bolt adjacent the end thereof farthest from the closed end of the housing having slots therein through which the pin passes, a second pin carried by the latch bolt intermediate the ends thereof and between the'sides of the bolt, said second pin having a curved inner edge and a fiat side, a third pin extending between the sides of the housing outwardly of said second pin, a handle pivotally mounted at one end on said third pin and extending into the opening in the top of the housing, an actuating member having spaced sides located between the sides of the latch bolt, said sides of the actuating member being connected at their outer ends by integral cross members, one at each side of the third pin, said third pin passing through the outer ends of the sides of the actuating member for pivotally mounting said member, a fourth pin extended through and mounted on and located between the inner ends of said actuating member, rollers on said fourth pin bearing against the said second pin carried by said latch bolt, a bar through one end portion of which said fourth pin passes, said bar extending away therefrom and said housing having an inwardly extending guide post through which the free end of the bar slidably passes, spring means acting on the bar to force it in a direction to move said rollers toward the pin carried by the latch bolt, and a torsion spring around the first mentioned pin having one end bearing against the adjacent connected cross member between the sides of the latch bolt and the other end against said post.

2. A structure as defined in claim 1, said handle Q at its pivoted end portion being recessed at its inner side, the outer end portion of said actuating member and the latch bolt at its pivotally mounted end extending partly into said recess, said sides of the latch bolt having arms extending inwardly from the free end of the latch bolt, and a locking roller mounted on and between said arms near their free ends.

3. A structure as defined in claim 1, and a torsion spring around said third pin on which the actuating member and handle are pivotally mounted, having one end bearing against the handle and the other against the actuating memher.

4. A latch structure comprising a housing, a handle pivotally mounted within said housing, said handle having a box-like construction extending into said housing and having-a portion thereof protruding from said housing, a latch bolt pivotally mounted within said housing, a transversely extending protuberance formed on said latch bolt, an actuating member pivotally mounted within said housing for movement about the pivotal axis of said handle and engageable with said handle, an elongated element slidably mounted on said housing and having a portion thereof pivotally connected to said actuating member, and means for biasing said elongated element in a longitudinal direction whereby said actuating member bears against said protuberance.

5. The latch structure defined in claim 4 wherein the protuberance formed on the latch bolt is provided with a substantially flat actuating member-engaging peripheral portion and an arcuate actuating member-engaging peripheral portion, said latch bolt assuming an open unlatched position when said actuating member engages the substantially flat peripheral portion of said protuberance.

6. The latch structure defined in claim 4 wherein a roller encompasses the pivotal connection between said actuating member and elongated element; said roller being in continuous bearing relation with respect to the protuberance formed on said latch bolt.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,937,778 North et al Dec. 5, 1933 2,087,143 Geske et a1. July 13, 1937 2,129,926 Geske et al Sept. 13, 1938 2,256,447 Burke Sept. 16, 1941 2,385,961 Anderson Oct. 2, 1945 2,514,317 Eichacker July 4, 1950 2,574,244 Colonna Nov. 6, 1951 

